The feud in the family came out in the open when SP supremo Mulayam Singh appointed his brother Shivpal as the state party chief.

Asserting that the feud between the Yadav family was nothing but a strategically designed ‘drama’, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday claimed that the much publicised rift in the family was being fuelled by the Samajwadi Party (SP) in order to cover the failures by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh.

“This high voltage drama has been strategically designed so that Akhilesh Yadav’s failures are given a cover. In UP everything from law and order to farming is in shambles. They don’t have water to drink and women are living in fear. He has miserably failed in every count, which is this distraction has been created,” BJP leader Srikant Sharma told ANI.

With the rift within the Yadav family becoming wider after Akhilesh Yadav skipped an important meeting called by his uncle and SP president Shivpal Yadav to formalise strategies for polls next year, the Congress said the discord within the family is affecting governance in the state and has asked the party to focus on the welfare of the people.

Akhilesh, however, met the members separately at his residence after their meeting ended with Shivpal on Friday at the party headquarters. At the brief meeting, Akhilesh apprised them of his ‘rath yatra’ scheduled from November 3 and said that they would be kept informed about it.

Meanwhile, newly appointed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Rita Bahuguna Joshi said the Yadav family feud within the Samajwadi Party (SP) would be beneficial for the former in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh polls, because the party is currently in power at the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a clean image among the people.

The feud in the family came out in the open when SP supremo Mulayam Singh appointed his brother Shivpal as the state party chief. As a consequence, Akhilesh Yadav withdrew the portfolios of public works, irrigation and two other portfolios from Shivpal and allotted them to other ministers.

Disagreements between Akhilesh and his uncle have been reported on several occasions, including on the choice of official to be appointed as the state’s chief secretary after Alok Ranjan’s term ended.

Mulayam Singh’s silence on the prospects of Akhilesh being re-nominated as the party’s face for chief minister has further added fuel to the fire.

However, Mulayam defended Shivpal and warned that the party would be in major trouble if Shivpal resigned. While in mid September, Akhilesh said at a function that he has rejected Shivpal’s resignation and would comply with whatever his father directs.